Trailers have long been in use for towing boats behind automobiles. Those persons that have loaded and unloaded boats from such trailers into navigable waters such as rivers and lakes recognize the difficulty encountered in securing and releasing the boat from the trailer.
Securement of a boat to its trailer has generally included use of a winch carrying a retractable rope. To load the boat, the trailer is backed into the water and rope is stripped from the winch and fastened to an eye at the forward portion of the boat. The winch is then cranked and the boat is drawn onto the trailer. In such a process, several difficulties are encountered. It often requires the user to wade into the water to secure the rope to the boat. If the winch is hand operated, it often requires a good deal of effort to draw the boat onto the trailer. This is true even though tracks and rollers are provided on the trailer. It is not at all uncommon for the rope to break after repeated use due to the substantial force required to draw. This results in a winch rope that is too short for ready use. It would be desirable to have a mechanism in which the boat operator could merely drive the motorized boat to a position over the trailer, activate a locking mechanism and thus secure the boat in place.